Japanese Watchdog to Check Exchanges After $500M Stolen

The Financial Services Agency of Japan will check local exchanges after Coincheck hack

29 January 2018
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The Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA) will begin checking the rest of the country's bitcoin exchanges after Friday's hack of Coincheck. This is reported by Nikkei.

In addition, the FSA commissioned Coincheck to submit by February 13. report on the incident and develop measures to avoid its recurrence. It is also possible that Coincheck will be fined, the size of which remains unknown.

According to the publication, FSA will also conduct inspections of other exchanges.

In April 2017, Japan obliged operators of cryptoexchanges to pass state registration, allowing existing platforms, including Coincheck, to continue working before obtaining a license. At the moment, such licenses are owned by 16 exchanges.

On Friday, January 26, Coincheck suspended operations with the digital currency NEM (XEM), and then with the other altcoins. Payments with bank cards and Pay Easy were also suspended. Later, representatives of Coincheck confirmed the theft of 58 billion yen ($ 533 million) in the NEM (XEM) crypto currency.

German Financial Regulator Clarifies Stance on ICOs

The Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) has clarified its position on ICOs

22 February 2018
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German financial regulator admitted it was receiving many inquiries about the status of tokens and cryptocurrencies. According to an advisory letter, BaFin provides some basic definitions of ICOs and related terms. It is important because the results of a new survey showed that more than two-thirds of Germans know about bitcoin.

In this letter, BaFin educates the public and explains how tokens are typically generated, how blockchain works and that ICOs are used to raise funds for startup projects. The note states that for regulatory purposes, ICOs, tokens, coins, and cryptocurrencies are subject to the existing provisions in the field of securities supervision and other relevant national and EU laws.

The authority advises participants in ICOs to check and follow rules applicable to regulated financial instruments, such as securities. If businesses or individuals have any doubts about regulations, they should approach BaFin.

According to BaFin, companies should fulfill any obligations under the Banking Act and the Capital Investment Code, the Insurance Supervision Act and the Payment Services Supervision Act. The transactions may be prohibited if relevant regulatory requirements are not met.

The authority also states that legal classification of tokens requires precise examination. It will determine their status on a case-by-case basis after studying their features. The token should be transferable and tradable on cryptocurrency trading platforms in order to be classified as a security.